


Smoke Signals (The Beer and Breakfast remix)

by Rian



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: First Time, First War with Voldemort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-23
Updated: 2014-09-23
Packaged: 2018-02-18 12:18:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2348207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rian/pseuds/Rian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What we've got here is a failure to communicate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smoke Signals (The Beer and Breakfast remix)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [the best definition of good intentions](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/74714) by whitmans_kiss. 



> Written for the 2011 Remus/Sirius Remix on Livejournal. Original livejournal post: http://rian219.livejournal.com/293008.html

***

"I can't believe you got rid of another one!"

Sirius shrugged and took a sip of his pint. "It wasn't working out."

James shook his head. "How do you know? You'd only been going out with her for two weeks."

Sirius glanced at Remus over the top of his glass as he took another sip. "I knew."

"How do you even do it?" James took a slug from his own pint and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "I mean, you've gotten rid of so many you must have a system by now, right? What to say, when to do it...you must be able to do it with your eyes closed."

Sirius shrugged again. "I don't know about a system." He paused, staring off into space. "I usually do it over a meal, because it seems harsh to just kick them out of bed."

In the middle of taking a mouthful of beer, Remus breathed it down the wrong way and started coughing, wincing as Peter thumped him hard between the shoulder blades. Sirius continued as if nothing was wrong.

"Mostly I do it at breakfast, because then I don't have to spend the whole day with them. Sometimes I do it in a restaurant, but that depends on whether I think the girl is more or less likely to chuck stuff on me if we're in public." He laughed a little. "Either way, I wait until after we've finished eating. That way, we both get something out of it." He took another sip of his beer and looked at Remus again. "It's only polite, after all."

Finished choking, Remus shifted in his seat and looked away from Sirius, his chest aching from more than just coughing. "You'll be through the whole female population of London by next weekend at this rate."

"That's okay. Maybe I'll start on the male half then, hmm?"

Remus' heart jerked in his chest and he looked back up to find Sirius watching him, a funny half-smile that was almost a smirk on his face. Sirius didn't look away when their gazes met, and Remus found himself caught, unable to look away as he felt his face grow hot under Sirius' regard.

"But that would be a bit unfair to Moony, wouldn't it? Too much competition," Peter piped up from beside Remus.

James threw a coaster at Peter from across the table. "It would only be competition if Moony was actually getting some. If you live like a monk, you're not even in the race."

Remus tore his gaze away from Sirius, his face burning. "Hey, shut up." He picked up a coaster and threw it at James. "How do you know I'm not getting any? I could be getting heaps for all you know."

James rolled his eyes. "Yeah, righto, Moony. That's what people who aren't getting any say."

Sirius laughed, and Remus frowned, his face heating again. "Shut up," he said again, sitting still for a moment before grabbing the edge of the table and hauling himself out of the booth they were sitting in. "Bugger you all. I'm getting another drink."

***

"It's not that I'm waiting for...anyone in particular," Remus said, his eyes on Sirius' retreating back as he headed to the bar. "It's just that I never meet anyone that I want to shag."

"You never meet anyone that you want to shag because you never meet anyone," James said from behind the huge wall of empty glasses in the middle of the table. "Your problem is you don't put yourself out there." He flung his arms out dramatically, almost taking out a few glasses as he did. "Look at how many people are in this pub, Moony! Surely there's someone here that you want to shag. Just one person, that's all you need."

Remus frowned. "It's not that easy."

"Yes it is!" James pointed at him. "You need to grow some bollocks! Be the Gryffindor you were born to be, Remus Lupin, and go out there," he pointed to the pub at large, "and shag your brains out like a normal single teenage boy so I can live vicariously through the lot of you. You and Peter have to pick up the slack before Sirius' willy falls off from overuse." He clapped his hands together sharply. "Chop chop!"

Remus looked at James for a minute, then turned to Peter, who shrugged in a 'what are you going to do?' kind of way. "We like you, Moony," he said. "There's no reason why other people won't like you too."

Remus frowned and looked down at the half-finished pint in front of him, running his thumb down the outside of the glass. After a moment he shook his head and picked it up, draining it before standing, swaying a little before steadying himself. At James' hopeful look, he put his hand out. "I'm just going to the bog, all right? Just the bog. I'm not going to shag anyone."

"Every moment is an opportunity!" James said, banging his fist on the table and making Peter jump. "After all, what better place for a man who likes blokes to size up his options than the bog?" He went quiet for a moment, then snorted, turning to Peter and starting to laugh. "Sizing up your options!"

Remus stared as Peter started to laugh as well, and shook his head. "Oh my God. You are such a wanker."

While washing his hands (and resolutely not checking out any of the people in the bathroom with him), Remus couldn't help but think about what James had said. It wasn't like he didn't know that the only person in the whole pub he wanted to shag was Sirius; he'd known that for years. Sleeping with Sirius would be the culmination of so many of his fantasies that he'd lost count of them, but...but. There were too many buts, that was the problem. He couldn't deny that he sometimes got the feeling from Sirius that he wanted it too, but he obviously didn't want it enough to stop shagging every girl in sight; even if Remus did have a chance when Sirius was free, he had barely enough time to blink before Sirius took up with someone else. There was also the issue of being cast off like a pair of dirty socks when Sirius got bored, but in his darkest, most desperate times he thought that it would probably be worth it, just so he could have the memories.

Pushing through the crowd on his way back to their table, he found himself detouring past the bar, his eyes skimming the patrons for the familiar dark head. Sirius was free that night, and maybe if Remus could just get him alone, and just talk to him, then maybe...maybe tonight would be his lucky night.

Or maybe not.

Leaning casually against the bar, Sirius was talking to a pretty blonde girl. As Remus watched, she leaned closer to him, putting her hand on his chest. Sirius smiled at her and reached out to put a hand on her waist, drawing her closer to him; Remus caught his breath in an involuntary gasp as Sirius leaned in as if to kiss her, but instead he whispered something in her ear. She laughed, and Remus was so caught up being relieved that they hadn't kissed that he didn't realise that Sirius was watching him, his head turned in Remus' direction as he kept the girl nestled against him with his arm.

Their gazes locked, and Remus knew that he looked surprised, and maybe even upset, and that he should stop that, stop it straight away, but he couldn't stop staring. Then Sirius smiled at him, and winked, as if all this was the best joke in the world, and suddenly Remus' heart constricted painfully. He was suddenly tired, so tired, of everything and everyone, but most of all of Sirius Black. He looked away, turning around and pushing back through the crowded bar.

He didn't go back to the table and James and Peter, only going close enough to signal to them that he was leaving. James shouted something after him, but he ignored it and kept going. It was raining when he got outside, but he decided to walk anyway, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jacket and blinking against the wet that trickled down his face and neck and plastered his hair to his forehead.

***

The floor of the Shack was too hard and too cold against his naked skin as he lay sprawled out and trembling from the shock of the transformation. His still-heightened senses turned the closing of the door into a thunderclap that made him twitch and whimper with pain, and he only dimly registered the loss of the scents of the stag and the rat along with it. Then the dog was there, and there was a brush of whiskers against his cheek; he reached out, clutching weakly at fur that turned into the softness of well-worn cotton under his fingertips. He felt himself being gathered up and cradled against a warm chest. The movement made him gasp, a soft moan escaping him, and Sirius' arms tightened around him, shifting him so his head was cradled against Sirius' neck.

"Shh, Moony, you're all right. I've got you. I've got you now."

Sirius lowered Remus onto the bed, gently untangling Remus' fingers from his t-shirt when they would have clung to it to keep him close, and pulling the blankets up to his chin. Remus sighed softly, barely registering the fingers brushing his hair back or the soft lips pressing a kiss to his forehead as the warmth of the blankets enveloped him and pulled him down into sleep.

Sometime later, his foggy brain struggled toward consciousness as the mattress dipped beside him, a warm body slipping in beside him. Remus murmured some sleepy nonsense as he was again gathered up in strong arms, the warm chest a pillow to rest his head this time. Fingers stroked through his hair, and he fell back to sleep listening to the slow, steady beat of a heart.

When he woke up again he was alone in bed. He blinked, rubbing at his eyes, and carefully turned over onto his back. Looking to his right, across the bed, he took in the undisturbed blankets, the pillow that looked like it had never seen the weight of someone's head. When he slid his hand over to the other side of the bed, the sheets were cold. He frowned, rubbing at his face again.

"Something wrong?"

He turned his head to the left, towards the sound of the voice. Sirius was sitting in a chair by the window, a magazine held in his hands. He looked like he'd been there for a while. Remus looked at him for a moment, then shook his head. "No. No, nothing's wrong. Apart from the usual." He paused. "I think...I must have been dreaming."

Sirius smiled a little. "About what?"

Remus watched Sirius again, but there was no sign, no hint of...anything. "Nothing. It's not important." He paused. "I should probably be getting up. I'm sure you've got better things to do than sit here watching me sleep."

Sirius shrugged. "They can wait."

"Won't Millicent be wondering where you are?"

"I doubt it. I broke up with her last week." Sirius paused. "I'm seeing her friend now. Marigold."

"Oh." Remus closed his eyes slowly, swallowing against the sudden lump in his throat; he really needed to avoid these sorts of topics when he wasn't at his best. "Right. Yes. Of course you are."

***

Remus was at the bar, just handing over the money for his crisps when a shadow fell across him.

"Hi."

Remus looked up, raising his eyebrows as he looked up into the face of a stranger. The man - tall, kind of scruffy, with sandy blonde hair and deep brown eyes that looked kind - was smiling at him. Remus could feel himself blushing. "Ah...hi."

The man's smile broadened. "Can I buy you a drink to go with those crisps?"

Remus looked down at the crisps that were sat on the bar in front of him. Just then, from over near the open fire at one end of the pub, he heard Sirius' latest shag -- a girl called Lucy, Lucinda, Lainie, something beginning with L -- start to laugh. The girl had a laugh like a dying donkey. Remus stared down at the crisp packets for a moment longer, then looked back up at the man, his heart starting to pound. "Ah. Sure. If you want to."

"I do." The man signalled the bartender. "Pint?"

Remus nodded. "Lager."

The man placed their orders, then turned back to Remus. "So. What's your name?"

Remus could feel himself blushing again. "Oh. Um. Remus. My name's Remus."

"Remus." The man turned to pay the barkeep for their drinks and then back to Remus, the smile back on his face. "Pleased to meet you, Remus. My name's Simon."

"Oh. Um. Okay." Remus nodded. "Hi, Simon."

Simon's smile broadened. He was apparently not bothered by the fact that Remus was an incoherent idiot who couldn't stop saying 'um'. "I haven't seen you around here before. Do you live around here?"

Remus shook his head. "No, I...my friend Sirius has just moved into a flat near here, so we're testing out all the locals." He waved a hand back over his shoulder, in the general direction of where he'd last left the others. "My friends are over there."

"I know. I've been watching you all night." Simon took a sip of his beer, watching Remus over the rim of his glass.

"Oh." Remus' face heated again, and he took a mouthful of beer just so he'd have something to do. His face started to burn as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and Simon watched his every movement, his gaze lingering on Remus' mouth.

"So," Simon said, and suddenly he was imperceptibly closer without having appeared to move, his eyes still on Remus' mouth. "I was wondering if you'd like to--"

Just then a heavy hand fell on Remus' shoulder, just before an arm snaked around his neck and someone leaned against him, pushing him into the bar so that the edge of it dug into his waist.

"Moony," Sirius said right next to his ear. "Who's your new friend?"

Remus' face was burning again. "Ah...this is Simon."

"Simon," Sirius said, a little too brightly. "You're going to have to excuse Remus, but he's needed elsewhere. He needs to settle an important dispute."

"A dispute." Simon had stepped back when Sirius had appeared, but he didn't turn tail and run. "Surely that can wait until he finishes his drink."

Sirius shook his head, his arm tightening around Remus' neck. "Actually, no, no it can't. Matter of life and death, you see. Desperate. We need him now. Not a moment to lose."

Simon studied Sirius for a few long moments, his eyes lingering on the places where their bodies touched, on Sirius' arm around Remus' neck. Then he looked at Remus and smiled a little. "Okay then, I better let you go. But maybe when you've finished we can talk again, yeah? Me and my friends are just over there." He gestured over his shoulder. "Come and find me when you're done, all right?"

Sirius' arm tightened around his neck again, but somehow Remus managed to nod. "Okay."

Simon looked at Sirius again for a moment or two, then moved away, smiling at Remus one more time before being swallowed up by the crowd. Remus waited until he was gone before shrugging out from under Sirius' arm.

"What the hell was that for?"

Sirius looked smug. "What? Me seeing that guy off for you?" He stepped close again, his arm curling back around Remus' neck, so close that Remus could smell the beer on his breath. "Come on, Remus. He wasn't good enough for you, anyone could see that. I was just being a friend."

Remus was quiet a moment, trying to breathe through the sudden tightness in his chest. "Fuck you," he said softly, putting his hands on Sirius' chest and shoving, hard. "Fuck you!"

Sirius reeled back, almost taking a few people out as he threw his arms out to try to steady himself, only narrowly avoiding slamming into the table behind him.

"Oi, you two!" the bartender shouted, causing several people nearby to turn and stare at them. "Take it outside quick smart, or I'll put you out on your arses myself."

Remus headed for the door, shoving past Sirius without looking at him. He didn't look back to see if Sirius was following him, because that didn't matter; he just wanted out. He pushed through the door of the pub and out into the night, the cooler air after the heat of the pub making his head swim. He stood on the stoop for a moment and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to steady himself, until the door opened behind him.

"Remus..."

He opened his eyes and lurched forward onto the footpath, walking as fast as he could without running. Sirius didn't say his name again, but Remus could hear his footsteps behind him. He reached a corner and turned down it blindly only to find himself in a dark, dank, dead-end alley that ran down the side of the pub, filled with empty beer kegs and rubbish. He swore under his breath and turned around, running straight into Sirius. Sirius tried to grab for him, but he put out his hands and shoved, sending Sirius reeling back again.

Sirius rubbed at his chest. "I really wish you'd stop doing that."

Remus glared at him. "And I wish you'd leave me alone!"

Something flickered in Sirius' eyes then, but the expression was too quick and it was too dark for Remus to decipher it before it was gone, replaced with Sirius' trademark cocky smile. "You don't mean that, Moony. You love me, don't try and deny it."

It wasn't even a conscious thought; one moment, Remus was mired in a curious mix of fury and despair, and the next moment, he'd pulled back his arm and was taking a swing at Sirius' smug expression. But Sirius hadn't played Quidditch all those years at school because his reflexes were terrible, and Remus was crap at fighting without magic. Remus flailed at Sirius wildly, with no skill or finesse at all, and Sirius blocked him easily, but made no attempt to fight back. They scuffled, grunting and swearing as Remus kept shoving and punching; eventually Sirius started trying to subdue him, grabbing at his arms and trying to pin them to his sides. Remus fought that just as hard, and they wrestled, stumbling and grabbing at each other until they were finally up against the wall of the pub, Remus slamming Sirius back against the bricks with his body while Sirius clutched at his wrists. With nowhere else to go, they stared at each other, breathing hard, Sirius' fingers still digging into Remus' wrists, Remus' body still pressed against Sirius. They looked at each other for a minute, maybe two, and then Sirius' gaze dropped to Remus' mouth, the tip of his tongue flicking out to wet his bottom lip.

Remus' heart stuttered in his chest, and before he knew what he was doing he'd leaned forward and pressed his mouth to Sirius'.

Sirius made a soft noise in the back of his throat and kissed him back eagerly, letting go of Remus' wrists and wrapping his arms around Remus' waist, keeping him close. He deepened the kiss, coaxing Remus' mouth open with his tongue, and Remus moaned and shoved his hands into Sirius' hair, barely registering the tug of apparition before it swept him away, held tightly in Sirius' arms.

His knees hit the back of Sirius' bed and he fell back, Sirius falling on top of him, and then it was like they were fighting again as they scrambled to tear each other's clothes off, and then they were naked and God, the feel of Sirius' skin against his own was amazing, and then Sirius was touching him and he was making helpless, needy noises that he would have been embarrassed about if he wasn't revelling in the fact that he was touching Sirius and Sirius was making those noises too. They touched and kissed and rubbed against each other and it was fucking amazing, and then Sirius was spreading him open and pressing into him, and Remus arched and tensed, his fingers digging into Sirius' forearms.

"Sirius, wait, I haven't..."

"Shh, Remus, shh," Sirius said, feathering kisses all over his face. "I know. Relax, just relax. Keep breathing." He pushed into Remus again, oh so slowly. "I've got you. I won't hurt you. I'd never hurt you, Moony." He pulled back and looked into Remus' eyes. "Do you trust me?"

Remus stared at Sirius, then reached up to put his arms around Sirius' neck, nodding. "Yes."

Sirius smiled and kissed him again, and kept kissing him as he sheathed himself in Remus' body, muffling Remus' soft cries with his mouth. When he was buried deep in Remus' body he broke the kiss, kissing Remus' face and neck as his hands stroked Remus' chest and stomach, grasping Remus' cock and coaxing it back to hardness as Remus' body relaxed around him. He started to thrust again, hitching Remus' legs up around his waist and changing his angle so that something inside Remus began to ache. The feeling built as Sirius started to stroke him in time with his thrusts, until he was making those helpless noises again, Sirius' hands and mouth and cock urging him on until he stiffened and came, pressing his face into Sirius' neck whispering words of devotion against his skin.

***

Remus woke up on his back, Sirius' arm slung across his chest. He lay there for a moment, blinking at the ceiling, then turned his head to look at Sirius. Sirius was sprawled on his stomach, facing away from Remus so that all Remus could see was a mop of dark hair. The sheets were pooled at Sirius' waist, the light from the window outlining the smooth expanse of Sirius' back and shoulders. Remus sighed watching him, and resisted the urge to touch, turning away instead and gently edging out from under Sirius' arm. He sat on the edge of the bed and raked his hands through his hair, then gathered his clothes off the floor and slipped from the room.

He turned on the shower and made the water as hot as he could stand it, and stood under it until his skin was rosy from the heat, trying not to dwell on the enormity of what he'd done. When he finally got out he wiped the steam from the mirror with his hand and stood in front of it, staring at himself. He didn't look different in any way, there was no flashing sign over his head that told people that he'd finally gotten shagged, but then he hadn't expected there to be. What he had expected was that he'd looked panicked, or stressed, or upset, because he'd finally shagged Sirius and because of that things were never going to be the same. But the eyes that stared back at him from the mirror were calm, almost vacant. Then again, he had always been good at blocking things out.

Just as he was about to turn away and dress, a shadow on the underside of his jaw caught his attention. He frowned and leaned closer, tilting his chin to get a better look at it.

It was a hickey.

His heart thudded in his chest once, hard against his ribs, and just like that he wasn't blocking anything out anymore. Sirius' hands and mouth on him, the feel of his cock inside him, the overwhelming feel of his orgasm tipping him over the edge and turning him into a babbling wreck.

_"Please, ohfuck, I can’t – this – Sirius, SiriusIloveyouSirius, I – ohfuckyes, yes, – …"_

He closed his eyes against that memory, and against what had happened next: Sirius clutching Remus' face with his hands, kissing him, thrusting again and again until he'd stiffened, arching above Remus, his eyes closed, his jaw gritted against a guttural groan as he came, no answering words on his lips.  
When Remus opened his eyes and looked at himself in the mirror again, his face was red from more than just the shower, something more than tiredness clouding his eyes. He sighed, turned away from the mirror and got dressed.

He considered leaving, even went so far as to go to the door and put his hand on the doorknob, but in the end he decided against it. Even he wasn't that much of a coward. He went into the kitchen and did what he always did in times of stress: put the kettle on. He made tea for himself and for Sirius, then spent a full five minutes staring at Sirius' tea and wondering if Sirius might take it the wrong way. Forcing himself to snap out of it -- he was being ridiculous; how many ways could someone making someone else tea really be taken, anyway? -- he put Sirius' tea on the table and then stood in the middle of the kitchen wondering what to do next. A tomato sitting on the bench caught his eye, and he seized the thoughts of what he could do with it like a lifeline, spending a blissful, worry-free ten minutes rummaging around in Sirius' fridge and cupboards pulling together the means to make omelettes. He put bacon in the pan too, ruthlessly suppressing the small voice in his head that whispered that maybe the tea plus the bacon plus the omelette really was too much, and kept on stirring the eggs.

When he heard the bedroom door open, his stomach nearly dropped through the floor. By the time he heard Sirius' bare feet padding across the kitchen floor, his heart was threatening to burst right through his ribcage.

The scrape of the chair legs across the kitchen floor when Sirius pulled it out to sit down was like fingernails on a chalkboard to Remus' frayed nerves.

"Morning, Moony."

"Good morning." Remus prayed to whoever was listening that he didn't sound nervous. "I’ve taken the liberty of using some of your eggs, and your bacon."

"Smells good."

Remus looked over his shoulder, smiling weakly, turning back around quickly as the sight of Sirius' naked chest brought images from the night before rushing back to him again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I’m making omelettes."

"Thanks, Moon."

"I found some cheese, as well. Thought I’d put it in for you."

"You know, Moony, we ought to talk about this. About – you know. Things."  
If Remus thought he was panicking before, it was nothing to what he was doing now. Suddenly, part of a conversation they'd had weeks ago was all he could think of.

_Mostly I do it at breakfast, because then I don't have to spend the whole day with them... Either way, I wait until after we've finished eating. That way, we both get something out of it... It's only polite, after all._

He opened his eyes, staring at the wall in front of him, frantically trying to think of something to say until something on the bench next to the stove caught his eye. Sirius' block of cheese. He could talk about cheese, cheese was safe. "See, I thought if I just nicked off the mouldy bit around the one corner it’d be all right to --"

"Bollocks, Remus. Don’t change the subject."

Remus' stomach lurched; time to face the inevitable. He took another deep breath, schooled his expression into something he hoped was suitably neutral, and turned around. "I don’t think there's anything we need to discuss."

Sirius frowned and opened his mouth to speak, and Remus found his brain shying away from what he was going to say; he heard What the hell are you talking about, Remus? , but the best shag of my life was mostly erased by his panicking, his brain supplying him instead with snatches of other conversations, words that when added up meant that he should never have done this, that last night had been a colossal mistake.

_I love you, Sirius... He wasn't good enough for you, anyone could see that. I was just being a friend...Shh, Remus, shh...I won't hurt you. I'd never hurt you, Moony...Maybe I'll start on the male half then...do you trust me?_

The bacon suddenly popped loudly in the frying pan, and Sirius stopped, distracted. Remus turned around quickly, his heart pounding in his chest, and clutched at something that was safe again. "There was a tomato, on the counter, and I thought I’d include it, too. Hope you don’t mind."

There was a moment of silence behind him, and then Sirius spoke, his voice almost a growl. "No, I don’t mind."

Silence descended between them again, and Remus did his best to calm down. It wasn't until he had taken the frying pan off the heat and was reaching into Sirius' cupboard for some plates that Sirius spoke again.

"No, you know what? I do mind." The chair legs screeched across the floor again, and before Remus had time to react Sirius had crossed the room and was grabbing Remus' wrist and turning him around. Surprised, Remus let go of the plate he was holding and it fell to the floor, smashing to smithereens; he barely noticed it, because before it had hit the floor Sirius was kissing him.

The kiss was deep, messy and frantic, Sirius' hands cupping his face to keep him still, the kitchen bench digging into his back as Sirius pressed against him, his hands finding Sirius' waist, a shiver rolling through him at the feel of Sirius' bare skin. When the kiss ended, they were both breathing hard.

"Remus," Sirius whispered against his mouth, one thumb stroking across Remus' cheekbone. He pulled back a little until the tips of their noses touched, his other hand moving down so that his thumb brushed Remus' lips. "Remus, I lo--"

Someone hammered on the door, making them both jump. Sirius hesitated a moment, until the hammering came again, then swore softly and tore himself away from Remus, storming out of the kitchen and to the door. Remus sagged against the kitchen bench, putting a shaking hand up to his lips, and listened to the events unfolding in the hallway.

"Where the bloody fuck did you disappear to last night?"

It was Lucy, Lucinda, Lainie...dying-donkey-laugh girl. Remus closed his eyes, his heart sinking. He didn't hear Sirius' reply as he pushed away from the bench and crossed the kitchen, walking slowly around the corner toward the door.

Her eyes narrowed when she saw him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm just leaving," Remus said, stepping around her and Sirius and heading for the door. When he got there he stopped, his hand on the doorknob, and turned.

Sirius was staring at him. "Remus. Don't go."

Remus did his best to smile, as if nothing was wrong. "I'll see you later, Sirius, all right?" Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door and slipped through it, closing it carefully behind him.

He'd gotten down two flights of stairs before he heard the pop of apparition, but it was the sound of an opening door and the slap of bare feet across tiles that finally made him slow down. He turned just in time to see Sirius come barrelling down the stairs in only his pyjama pants, and barely had time to steady himself before Sirius was shoving him up against the landing wall and kissing him again.

"She's gone. For good. And now you're going to give me a chance to finish, you idiot," Sirius said breathlessly when they broke apart. "I love you, and I don't want you to go. Now come upstairs and finish your breakfast so we can go back to bed, all right? It's bloody freezing out here."

Remus looked at him for a moment, then shrugged out of his jacket, slipping it around Sirius' shoulders and pulling it closed, tugging Sirius closer at the same time. "All right," he said, smiling a little as a massive weight lifted from his shoulders and his heart began to sing. "Can't have you catching your death now, can we?"


End file.
